Land Down Under. Part 1

Part 1. The arrival. Brisbane.

It seems that all of the longest journeys I undertake these days are dictated by my youngest daughter. Not content with spending a year in the USA, she has decided to make Australia her home for the foreseeable future. Because of the distance (10,000miles) the Land of Oz would never have been on my radar. But blood ties are a powerful motivator.

So, at the end of January we set off on the marathon flight to the Land Down Under. At the time of writing, the Coronavirus is world news but when we started the journey it wasn’t much of a concern. At least not until boarding the plane on the first leg-Heathrow, London to Singapore. Being the Chinese New Year, a significant portion of the passengers were making the journey to celebrate with family there. The abundance of mask-wearing passengers was slightly disconcerting but I was determined not to let anything interfere with my joyful anticipation of seeing my daughter for the first time in a year and a half.

13 hours to Singapore, followed by 7.5 hours from Singapore to Brisbane and we walked out into a balmy 30 degree Celsius (90 degrees Fahrenheit) morning. The fact that 24 hours earlier we left a wet and cold (5 degree Celsius) Belfast, made this the first in a series of pleasant surprises.

I had seen some photos, taken from the roof of the apartment block where Tiarna and Eduan live and thought it looked like a nice place but seeing it for myself was a real treat. The view of the Brisbane skyline was impressive during the day but once night fell it was stunning!

Our second day in Australia was ‘Australia Day’ and coincidentally, Ed’s birthday. So, if ever there was an excuse for a party, this was it. Having said that, the Aussies are a bit like the Irish-they don’t need an excuse! Now, in Ireland we normally celebrate birthdays (and every other occasion) in the dry confines of a house, hotel or bar. So it was a whole new experience to celebrate the occasion/s in a swimming pool!

This was our first real taste of Australian hospitality. Though it would be more accurate to call it South African hospitality. The couple hosting the party and who would later share their home with us for a week, were Ed’s parents. They left South Africa around 20 years ago and now have a new life in Australia. Their story is typical of many nationalities who now call this country home. To illustrate this, only 2 of the people in the above photo were born in Australia!